Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press
under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the
data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Statement of
Erica L. Groshen
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, September 6, 2013
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August,
and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent. Over
the prior 12 months, job gains averaged 184,000 per month. In
August, employment rose in retail trade and health care, while
information lost jobs.
Retail trade added 44,000 jobs in August. Job gains occurred
in clothing stores (+14,000), food and beverage stores (+12,000),
general merchandise stores (+9,000), and electronics and
appliance stores (+4,000). Over the past 12 months, retail trade
employment has increased by 393,000.
Health care employment rose by 33,000 in August. Within
health care, ambulatory care services, such as doctorsí offices
and home health care services, added 27,000 jobs.
Employment in professional and business services continued
to trend up in August (+23,000). Over the past 12 months, this
industry has added 614,000 jobs. Employment in temporary help
services changed little in August.
Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services
and drinking places continued to trend up (+21,000). Over the
past 12 months, employment in food services and drinking places
has increased by 354,000.
Employment also continued to rise in wholesale trade in
August (+8,000). This industry has added 83,000 jobs over the
past 12 months.
Within manufacturing, employment in motor vehicles and parts
was up by 19,000 over the month after decreasing by 10,000 in
July. Auto manufacturers laid off more workers for model
changeover in July than in recent years. The return of laid-off
workers contributed to the increase in August. Over the past 12
months, auto manufacturers have added 34,000 jobs.
In August, employment declined in information due to a loss
of 22,000 in the motion picture and sound recording industry,
where employment can be volatile from month to month. Employment
in other major industries showed little or no change over the
month.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls rose by 5 cents in August. Over the past 12 months,
average hourly earnings have risen by 52 cents, or 2.2 percent.
From July 2012 to July 2013, the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 2.0 percent.
Turning now to our survey of households, the unemployment
rate, at 7.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at
11.3 million, were both little changed in August. The jobless
rate is down from 8.1 percent a year ago.
The labor force participation rate--the share of the
population that was working or looking for work--edged down to
63.2 percent in August. The employment-population ratio was about
unchanged at 58.6 percent.
The number of involuntary part-time workers fell by 334,000
to 7.9 million in August. These individuals would have preferred
full-time employment but had their hours cut or were unable to
find full-time work. On net, involuntary part-time employment has
changed little over the past 12 months.
Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work
in August, 2.3 million were classified as marginally attached to
the labor force, down by 219,000 from a year earlier. These
individuals had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the
survey but wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked
for a job within the last 12 months. The number of discouraged
workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no
jobs were available for them, was 866,000 in August, essentially
unchanged from a year earlier.
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000
in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3
percent.